On October 30, 1974, political prisoners Kronid Lyubarsky and Alexei Murzhenko established Political Prisoner Day in Dubravlag (a Soviet labor camp), in order to secure recognition of political prisoner status, lift restrictions on correspondence, parcels, and care packages, increase the number of visits with relatives, and obtain proper medical care. The main gesture of solidarity on that day was a symbolic one-day hunger strike, observed not only by political prisoners but also by many people on the outside. The initiative was quickly embraced, as you can see from the memoirs of political prisoners in the USSR. Eating on that day was considered “the last thing one should do.” This was despite the fact that prison administrations across the country punished everyone who refused food on that day by throwing them into punishment cells and solitary confinement. The Soviet system collapsed, and at one point in our history there were no political prisoners left in Russia. Instead of Political Prisoner Day, people began observing the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repression. The logic was simple: why do we need a Political Prisoner Day if we have no political prisoners? Let it be a day of remembrance and history instead. For many years, the main event was the remarkable annual action held the day before, “Returning the Names.” People stood in an enormous line to read out one or two randomly selected names from the unimaginably vast list of our fellow citizens who had been unjustly thrown into prison or labor camps, or executed. “Returning the Names” was organized by Memorial, the human rights and educational society. Today, in 2023, Memorial no longer exists: it has been officially dissolved by the authorities. And political prisoners exist again—and there are many of them. The Russian authorities are returning to their roots: arrests, repression, closed trials, and blatant lawlessness under the signboard of “justice.” In this situation, we believe it is right for us, too, to return to our roots and traditions. We are holding an action on October 30 and restoring the old name, once again painfully relevant: “Political Prisoner Day.” The world’s dictators and tyrants never tire of emphasizing their closeness to one another. It is only right for political prisoners in all countries to show solidarity as well. That is why we consider Political Prisoner Day an international day. (Continues in the carousel) ------- We call on all political prisoners and those who want to support them to join the action and refuse to eat on this day. Vladimir Kara-Murza Alexey Navalny Vadim Ostanin Lilia Chanysheva Daniel Kholodny Ilya Yashin